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Aereo unveils free trial and new prices for its NYC-based internet TV service (video)
Broadcast-streaming startup Aereo is busting out tweaked price plans and a free trial for New Yorkers to try the service gratis for an hour a day. $8 per month will buy you unlimited access, live pause, rewind and 20 hours online DVR, while $12 a month doubles your storage allocation to 40 hours. Annual customers can pay $80 (plus tax, naturally) to get a deep discount off the monthly price, but for the commitment-phobic viewer, 24-hours access can be purchased for a dollar, or you can try the service for an hour each and every day without need of a sign up. Unfortunately, due to legal wrangling, it's only available within the boundaries of New York City on any iOS, OS X, AppleTV or Roku devices. There's PR and Video after the jump if you're yet to be convinced -- but think, now you catch all of Good Morning America as you walk down Broadway.
Original version of Spelunky now playable in your browser
Before it was a frustrating XBLA game, Spelunky was a frustrating freeware PC game. And now it's a quietly, addictively frustrating browser game. Using a new version of the Game Maker software in which Derek Yu coded the original game, developer Darius Kazemi ported Spelunky into HTML5, allowing us to link to a playable version right here.The port isn't perfect – current issues include a lack of dark levels, the removal of any (random) level that starts on the right side, and ... no sound. But on the upside, it's Spelunky in your browser, for free.
Microsoft teams up with shopping search engine for HTML5 digital catalogs
Dead tree product catalogs -- dated. Fortunate, then, at least for Mother Earth, that Microsoft's unveiled the results of its team-up with retail-focused search engine TheFind, several web-based Glimpse catalogs, offering the visual pizazz of a retail magazine without the carbon hangover. Injecting Redmond's HTML5 know-how into the shopping hub's catalog and social apps, it distills those functions into the single site. Stores including Brooks Brothers and Lands' End have already offered up their collections in the web store, but Techcrunch reckons the venture needs a little more work. The images appear to be little too compressed and blurred in the new format, while the detail view directs users to social network sharing rather than a product's description. But with Microsoft already offering the HTML5 juice that powers the online app for free, someone else might improve on the company's groundwork.
Big Fish Unlimited lets gamers resume play on mobile, PC and TV, stay distracted at all times (update: HTML5 explained)
The perpetual crisis of casual gaming is that need for just one... more... turn. After all, those 29 levels of progress aren't coming with you to the office, are they? Big Fish Games wants to ease our consciences (or at least our egos) with Big Fish Unlimited. By using HTML5 to constantly save progress, the cloud service remembers exactly where a player was and ports it to the next device: it's possible to hop from a Android tablet, to a Roku box, to a Windows PC's browser without having to replay anything. The nature of the streaming games themselves won't give OnLive players second thoughts, but their lighter footprint won't demand as much from an internet connection, either. Most of the intended audience will appreciate the price -- the now active service costs $8 a month for access to more than 100 games from the full catalog, and free play is on tap for 20 of the games as long as you can endure periodic ads. Whether or not coworkers can endure another round of your hidden object games is another matter. Update: We've since talked to the company directly, and it turns out that the HTML5 is more for the cross-platform support; it's the server that tracks progress whenever you quit a given app.
Google adds browser-based weather feature to tablets with temperature, wind and precipitation
You may have noticed Google's forecast feature on your HTML5-capable smartphone browser -- simply typing "weather" into the search field brings up a basic real-time temperature tool, complete with hourly and five-day forecasts for your current location. That feature has been around in one form or another since the beginning of last year, but as of this week, it's made its way to tablets, too. Web weather is entirely browser based, and you can bring it up in just the same way as on a smartphone -- confirm that your GPS is enabled, then head to Google.com and type "weather" -- you'll be rewarded with a 10-day forecast, complete with temp, precipitation, humidity and wind speed readouts. The tool is interactive, so while you may only be able to view a few days of weather at once, you can simply slide along the timeline to see more. The same applies to the hourly forecast as well. There's nothing to download or subscribe to for this one, and it's available right now at Google.com. James Trew contributed to this report.
MMO Blender: Beau's portable, accessible, and casually immersive mashup
I've been pretty excited to take my turn at the MMO Blender wheel. Sure, we all have ideas about how we would build our dream MMOs by mixing up different parts from favorite games, but honestly, I wanted to use my time here to make a point: MMO gaming needs to climb outside of the box, soon. Since there is more and more emphasis on mobile and casual gaming, my game will take that in into consideration. But games have to be fun too, right? I think they can be fun, immersive, and casual all at the same time. I'm hoping that my examples will show how other developers have combined the three such that players can access the game from anywhere. It's also important to me that my game be simple to play and accessible for players with disabilities, so let's just say that I have included all of the proper features like adjustable colors for the color-blind, resizable text, and maybe even audio cues to help those with sight issues. I've been given a budget of one million-billion internet bucks, so let's get to it... this game is not going to build itself!
Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world
Facebook's App Center is having its passport stamped quite a lot lately. Just days after the HTML5 app portal set foot in the UK, it's making the leap to seven more countries. Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey will all get a crack at using web apps both on the desktop as well as in the Android and iOS native clients. The new group is coming onboard in the next few weeks. In the meantime, countries where English makes a frequent appearance -- Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US -- now supply the App Center for every single user. To help speed along the virtual customs claims, Facebook is trotting out a translation tool to get developers on the right track. It shouldn't be long before App Center is a mainstay of the entire Facebook world, even though we may end up cursing the company after hour three of a Jetpack Joyride marathon.
Jolla promises MeeGo will live on, plans new smartphone to reward the faithful
More than a few N9 aficionados felt their hearts sink when important MeeGo team members left Nokia this week, putting the fate of the entire swipe-friendly platform in doubt. Recently-founded Jolla was clearly watching, as it confirmed just in the nick of time that it's planning to carry the torch further. The Finnish startup, which includes important members of the N9 team as well as veterans of the unofficial MeeGo community, not only plans to iterate on MeeGo but to build its very own smartphone with that foundation. Those attached to Nokia's interpretation of MeeGo will have to adapt to a few changes: Jolla's work is based on the related, partly HTML5-driven Mer Project and will have a "brand new UI" to go with the new hardware. It won't be a literal N10 as a result, but we'll find out just what direction Jolla is taking soon -- it's been working on the phone since late 2011 with plans to show its work later this year. As long as some of the N9's spirit carries forward, we have a hunch that a lot of fans won't mind the absence of a Nokia badge.
Line messaging and VoIP app adds 'timeline' and 'home' features, throws in new platform for app integration
With now over 45 million users, while you may not use Line yourself, someone you know (or at least someone they know) probably does. The Asia-centric Skype rival has decided to roll-out some extra functionality and is looking to go a few rounds with even bigger competition. 'Home' offers up a base for sharing photos and other content, as well as your own status updates, while the 'timeline' feature will throw together a familiar-sounding chronological breakdown of your latest adventures to show your friends, adding in the ability to comment on each other's posts. Its 'Line channel' sounds even more nebulous and aims to use the existing app as a foundation for integrating and linking to yet more programs and services. The screenshots hint at camera, gaming and (yes) horoscope integration, while Line is gearing up for both HTML5 and native applications. Hit up the company's notions on a heavily connected messaging service in two servings of press release, right after the break.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Tumult
Tumult is a timeline-based tool for creating HTML 5 animation on your Mac. Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Jonathan Deutsch of Tumult at WWDC 2012. Jonathan was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
Adobe confirms it won't support Flash on Android 4.1, stops new Flash installs from Google Play on August 15th
Adobe was very public about dropping mobile Flash last fall. In case that wasn't clear enough, the developer just drew a line in the sand: Android 4.1 doesn't, and won't ever, get certification for Flash. The company is stopping short of saying that Flash won't run, but it's evident that Adobe won't help you if the web browser plugin doesn't install (or breaks in spectacular fashion) on that Nexus 7. Just to underscore the point, the firm is also halting new installations of Flash from Google Play as of August 15th. Security updates and other vital patches will continue on for existing users. Any fresh downloads after that fateful day, however, will have to come from Adobe's mausoleum for old versions. The company had already said that HTML5 was the way forward on phones and tablets -- now we know just how quickly it's backing up that claim.
Improve your Safari YouTube watching experience
In recent months, have you noticed your Safari-based YouTube watching experience degrade further and further? Are you hopping into Chrome or FireFox just so you can see NyanCats fly? TUAW reader Tim has uncovered a reason this might be happening. He writes, "The last few months, I've been ticked off at YouTube because it seems like every video I tried to play would keep reloading over and over and the page wouldn't load. I tried resetting Safari, reloading Flash, (ugh), etc, etc, etc. Things would work fine on other browsers, but not Safari." After doing some legwork, he discovered that Google has deployed a HTML5 video test into its user base. That this option is automatically enabled for many users. To check whether you've been included, visit this Youtube page and scroll down towards the bottom. If you see the evil green checkmark, click the blue "Leave the HTML5 trial." Instantly, you gain 50 karma points and often your video just starts working properly. Tim adds, "Just thought you guys might want to reshare this one. I'm doing my good deed for the day." We agree. Thanks, Tim!
Augmented reality browser Junaio offers less 'clunky' apps, new API for developers (video)
Remember Metaio? Back in February we reported on the company's rather neat brand of markerless augmented reality, and now it has some fresh news: a major revamp to its Junaio AR browser for iOS and Android, which incorporates the markerless algorithms and a lot more besides. The browser is an open platform for a myriad of smaller AR apps coded by independent developers, and the new version includes both a new UI and API to give those devs additional tools in HTML5 and JavaScript. Right now, the app is worth a peek for the various curiosities demo'd after the break -- such as the ability to see other people's Instagram photos overlaid on the view from your rear camera, showing the direction and distance to the point where they were snapped. In time, though, we're really hoping that developers will latch on to platforms like this and take AR to where it needs to be: something that let's us recognize and augment people and objects naturally and instantaneously, without pre-conceived markers. In fact, Junaio really needs to have coffee with Project Glass. Update: looks like the Android version has jammed in a pipe somewhere and won't hit Google Play til June 25th.
Dolphin launches Engine browser beta, claims it's got what it takes to be number one in speed stakes
Dolphin reckons the beta version of its new browser is the fastest HTML5 browser on Android. While the app looks largely unchanged, its creators have added in a raft of enhanced features behind the scenes, including text rendering, GPU accelerated canvas rendering and optimizations for CPU and GPU team-ups. They claim that Dolphin Engine runs up to ten times faster than the default Android browser, while it'll also perform 100 percent faster than Chrome, if the timing's right, with the beta peaking over 450 on a web-based HTML5 test, leaving rival Android browsers choking on its rich web fumes. You can give it a try yourself now -- the APK can be plucked from the source link below.
LG and Philips / TP Vision announce Smart TV Alliance for cross platform TV apps
Following up on last year's promise to build a standardized SDK for creating Smart TV apps, LG and TP Vision (the new owner of Philips' TV business) have announced the creation of the Smart TV Alliance. Its goal is to create a "non-proprietary ecosystem" to encourage developers to make platform-independent apps based on standards like HTML5. One of the main problems currently for the Smart TV market is that there's many different platforms, some manufacturer specific while others like Google TV and Yahoo! Widgets play across differently branded devices. Curiously, Sharp was included in the previous announcement at IFA last fall and is not mentioned by name this time around, although the press release hints at "other Japanese manufacturers" in the process of joining that will be announced accordingly. The current plan is to release SDK 2.0 by the end of this year, until then interested devs are asked to register on the group's website for more info.
Facebook App Center for mobile leaks out on iOS, uses peer pressure to clinch the sale
While Facebook said it would deliver a version of its App Center store for mobile, it was shy on how that would work. An early iOS tester (since confirmed by TechCrunch) apparently didn't want to wait for an official explanation and slipped out a handful of shots: they show a mobile-optimized store that will look familiar to anyone who's picked up an iPhone or an Android phone in the past few years, but with an appropriately social bent. Friends' recommendations come front and center, and are so prominent that they take precedence over the app description; we're wondering if Facebook isn't pressuring us into downloading apps like it's a schoolyard dare. Facebook is still reluctant to say when App Center will hit pint-size proportions for everyone, though the largely complete-looking test version gives us hope for a quicker launch.
Inkling for Web puts iPad books in a browser
We've discussed Inkling's interactive digital textbooks numerous times here on TUAW, both in terms of the products the publisher has released and in comparison with Apple's own iBooks Author-created textbooks. Now the company has announced a way to read its books in Webkit-based web browsers. Matt McInnis, Founder and CEO of Inkling, announced today that the company has introduced an HTML5-based Web client known as Inkling for Web. Initial support for Inkling for Web will be on the desktop versions of Chrome and Safari. Although mobile Safari and Chrome also support the Web client, MacInnis noted that the Inkling app for iPad is better optimized for touch. Inkling for Web brings the company's travel guides, cookbooks, how-to books, and textbooks to Mac and PC users, complete with all of the interactive 3D graphics, multimedia, and social sharing that are in the iOS app. Considering that Amazon has a Kindle Web reader for all of its content, it's surprising that Apple still hasn't created a Mac OS or Web client for iBooks.
Google snags the webOS Enyo team, HP says open source plans are still on schedule (Update)
At one time the Enyo app framework was supposed to help webOS run faster and on a wider variety of devices, but as HP continues to struggle, reports have surfaced from The Verge and AllThingsD that much of the team behind it, including leader Matthew McNulty, has been hired away by Google. Numbering a half dozen or so, the immediate danger is the effect this might have on HP's efforts to open source webOS, but in a statement the company indicated it remains on track and will stick to the roadmap it announced in January. Less clear is what these employees might end up working on for Google, although Enyo's focus on web apps and HTML5 suggests the possibility they'll end up working on ChromeOS projects. Update: The remaining members of the Enyo team have also chimed in now, with a blog post indicating yes, some "key members" have left, but that "the majority of the engineering and leadership team remains." Of course, while it continues work on the product there are some job openings now, so interested coders are encouraged to toss an application HP's way.
Windows 8's Metro version of IE 10 may keep Flash for edge cases
Microsoft triggered some weeping and gnashing of teeth with its decision to keep Flash out of the Metro environment's Internet Explorer 10 browser in favor of HTML5, and it looks like that outpouring of grief has produced a compromise -- albeit with a catch. Leaks of the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview purport to show Flash running on IE10 in the new interface, but only for certain popular sites (such as Disney's) that can be trusted with Flash and don't have an easy HTML5 fallback. The company hasn't confirmed the change, but it's thought that Microsoft has skipped the familiar plugin route in favor of just coding Flash support for a few sites at a low level. If that's what we see when the Release Preview goes public in June, it could serve as a bridge for parents worried their kids will miss out on Where's My Water? games while preserving a browser that's overall leaner, meaner and safer. We wouldn't hold out much hope for Windows 8 RT tablets running ARM chips, though, knowing that backwards compatibility doesn't exist and that Adobe might not be keen to revive Flash-on-ARM support it's trying to wind down.
NHK working on Hybridcast interactive TV platform (video)
NHK is working on Hybridcast (an entirely different system to the Hybridcast 3D-delivery setup it demonstrated last year), a system that uses the internet to make vanilla TV broadcasts interactive. It works by pushing HTML5 overlays to your tablet and TV, so you can play along with quiz shows or follow a travelogue from the comfort of your couch. The company is planning to build a set-top-box with the technology ready for sale next year, with integrated TVs hoped to arrive from Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp and Mitsubishi shortly afterward. You can see what the residents of Japan can expect by watching the video after the break.
